I don't know; haven't tried in years. I have never officially entered a 5K walk and someday I want to try that. Guess we walked that far most weekends in 2007 just for fun, down in the Quarter, maybe even in 2008 but not lately. I'm not in very good shape! But working on it. I used to walk a mile on the indoor track at the gym, though I haven't lately.

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Thanks, please feel free to repeat that as often as you like! Some day I really do want to walk a 5K in an official race. I would feel like an Olympic athlete for sure, if I had that feather in my cap.

I have to admit that the Concept2 appeals to me about 34095876 more times than just walking, though.

__________________

__________________Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harborless immensities.
- - - H. Melville, 1851

Today's workout - - didn't increase the time, since I'm just starting this again, and didn't increase the strokes per minute or change the setting from 10 (as you can see in the photo below, that I took right after I finished). I'm mostly hoping to increase the average watts, 91.4 today and so far so good. Still not breathing especially hard but definitely perspiring.

I wonder - - if I ever get to be a Senior Olympian, do I get a crown? I like this one with the friendly smilie:

You must have really been hitting at the end! I have a slide rule from C2 and can transform your watts to pace/500 meters-it's 2:34, which I feel is really going. I think we have a genuine champeen on our board.

Ha

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Wow, thanks Haha!! Yes, I was trying to finish strong since I was still feeling pretty energetic at the time and wanted to be sure to pull that average wattage over 90 (it had been bobbling around on either side). What is pace/500 meters? I have no clue what that means (time to row 500 meters maybe?) but I'll take your word that 2:34 is good for whatever it is. Of course it was only a five minute session but this is encouraging, and my session length will increase in time.

I am still being careful to take it easy and not overdo, until hopefully I will get a sense of how much I can push myself without injury.

__________________Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harborless immensities.
- - - H. Melville, 1851

What is pace/500 meters? I have no clue what that means (time to row 500 meters maybe?)

Exactly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R

but I'll take your word that 2:34 is good for whatever it is.

It's not too bad at all. That pace and time should have seen you cover right at 1,000 meters. World-ranking wise, for the women's 1,000 meter, you are about 288th (out of 339 currently ranked for 2012 season) - somewhere between 33 year-old Silvia Rodriguez of Kalgoorlie, Australia and 59 year-old Angela McLellan, of Enfield in the UK.

__________________There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it. - Andrew Jackson

Exactly.It's not too bad at all. That pace and time should have seen you cover right at 1,000 meters. World-ranking wise, for the women's 1,000 meter, you are about 288th (out of 339 currently ranked for 2012 season) - somewhere between 33 year-old Silvia Rodriguez of Kalgoorlie, Australia and 59 year-old Angela McLellan, of Enfield in the UK.

I come home from work exhausted. And it is late. That is why I get very little exercise. Another sign that it is time to retire.

It is so hard to exercise when still working. I used to try to battle the traffic after work to get to the gym (crowded at that hour), and it was very hard to find the time. Believe me, it is MUCH easier in retirement.

I think one reason that retirees so often spend time exercising is that we are trying to make up for the years of enforced sloth. Cubicle life just isn't healthy, at least it wasn't for me.

__________________Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harborless immensities.
- - - H. Melville, 1851

I come home from work exhausted. And it is late. That is why I get very little exercise. Another sign that it is time to retire.

Me too, but I still exercise ususally Monday and Wednesday evenings after work and then Saturday morning. I do notice I have more energy on Saturday mornings and I'm thinking that once I retire I will be able to workout longer and hopefully improve my cardio which is seriously lacking.

So Nords, you wanted strokes so there ya go, 29.6 spm x 5 minutes = 148 strokes. Surely that is enough to lower the light bill and my monthly fees.

Well... it's a start!

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Since I've been reading this thread and since I've downloaded some of the instruction manuals for the C2, I think I've been realizing its potential more than I had in the past.

I've started increasing the power with which I pull each stroke although I've kept the reps at 28-30 per minute. I find that pulling at the 2:30 pace per 500 meters is quite a challenge. I've been doing intervals of 3-5 minutes at that pace with 1-2 minutes at a 3:10 pace and find that a half hour total is a really great workout. Today for the final minute I kicked it up as hard as I could and got to about a 2:05 pace but couldn't crack 2:00. I sure wouldn't be able to keep that pace up for more than about 2 minutes! I haven't been paying real close attention to the total meters per workout but I think they're in the 6K-7K range.

That's great, Friar1610! You are generating some awesome results on this machine. I am still just doing 5 minutes, not as long as you, but I do plan to increase the time eventually.

Today I couldn't figure out why my watts were so low, until I noticed that instead of "10" someone had set the resistance on "6". Still, after the discussions on this thread I had been curious about what a lower setting would give me, so I did a minute at "6". The wattage was abominable and I decided that personally, I prefer "10", so I stopped and changed the setting. Then I did the other 4 minutes of my 5 minute C2 workout on "10" (and continued on to my usual weight lifting machines).

F. and I are amazed at how much benefit we are getting for only 3 hours/week at the gym. Who knew?

__________________Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harborless immensities.
- - - H. Melville, 1851

I haven't been paying much attention to pace yet, though I will. I looked in my log, and last time I did several heats adding up to an hour or so over a period of about 1:20 minutes. I wasn't really trying to go fast, but also I wasn't loafing. That day, my best heat was 3330 meters at 2:43. I also do "Power 20s" pulling at my best for 20 strokes off and on during the workout and after I am fully warmed up. In my last session I did 20 strokes @2:03.

Ron Waddell, the men's open Erg champion ( I think this is the video that Leonidas linked) has the record for 2000 meters, the standard sprint distance, @1:24.1/500m. The men's lightweight record holder is Henrik Stephansen @1:30.5. The women are a bit slower, but Sophie Balmary, the open women's record holder is not much slower @ 1:37.1

Ha, you've started quite a C2 craze. I just check out the rowing machine at my fitness center and it is a C2. I will give it a try.

I have been avoiding the rowing machine since a fitness instructor talked me into a challenge with a coworker on the old rowing machine. It was the only time I had used the rowing machine and it kicked my butt.

Today is a non-gym day for the big Princess and she usually does something aerobic. She was just whining saying that it was too chilly to ride comfortably (she is a princess after all), and "it's going to be a pain to drive all the way to the gym every other day just to ride the bike or row."

And that's when inspiration struck and I mentioned the possibility of buying a C2 for the house. Just for her comfort, of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls99

Smooth operator!

So, the plan unfolded better and more quickly than I anticipated. The Princess is all for buying a C2 for the house. She has been using one at the gym and really likes it so far. Son Number Two, who I lured in with videos of MMA fighters using the C2 for fight endurance training, uses the C2 at the University rec center on non-practice days and likes the idea of one at home as well.

Cheapness LBYM mode kicked in as I was confronted with everyone in favor of an idea that involved me spending a quick $900. Usually. I have much more resistance to overcome.

My plan is to prove that I would use it enough to justify the expense, so I'm competing in the Fall individual challenge - 31,000 meters in 7 days (Ha probably rows that in a warm-up, but for me it will be a real challenge because that's a lot more than I've been rowing up to this point.) If I can make the distance in that time I will feel comfortable buying the rower with confidence that it will be used. Weird logic I know, but it works for me.

It started yesterday and I rowed then and today for a total of 11,481 meters so far.

Helen, I haven't been doing the C2 long either, but nobody else answered yet so here's my answer.

I feel it all over, really. Not too much in my shoulders, I guess, but I do feel it maybe a little more in my shoulders and back than elsewhere. More than anything I just feel "whooped" (physically tired), and overheated after a session. I was literally dripping after today's five minute session, not too feminine of a look as I dragged myself to the locker room (oh well).

As long as it's good pain, it's probably OK. If you're concerned, then you could back off a little and not pull so hard until you are sure everything is OK. Be sure to review the proper form and follow it religiously at first. There's an old saying, "Better light and right, than strong and wrong" which means do it less vigorously but with perfect form until you are sure you have the form down.

I have been more concerned about my feet, since I was having a minor foot problem before I re-started the C2. But so far, so good. It doesn't seem to stress my feet as much as I had feared.

__________________

__________________Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harborless immensities.
- - - H. Melville, 1851

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